(I don't own Torchwood, Dragon Age, or Bloodsong 13T's work.)
-Assan-
"Where are you, you little whores!?" the shout was enhanced by something being smashed, "when I get my hands on you two little rats, you'll wish you were dead!"
I bit my lip, trembling as I clutched the dagger I had snatched. The shout came again and Graves Cousland's hand tightened over my mouth, muffling me as the older boy held me tightly, eyes watching the door of the cupboard that hid us as if it might fly open at any moment; probably because it could. Beside us, Graves' mabari pup, Barkspawn, stayed silent, as if he knew what would happen to us if he barked or growled. Graves says mabari are smart, so maybe the hound did understand.
"I want the knife-ear lover and his knife-ear found now! I can't have a ransom without that boy. And if you don't get that Dalish savage back in-"
The door was slammed open, and the older boy, Graves, gasped and scrambled back. I growled a growl worthy of the Dread wolf himself and lunged forward with my dagger, sick of being the one to back down. A month's worth of rage and pain boiled over, and I plunged the dagger into the noble; I didn't stop stabbing, even as his body stilled, even as the guards lunged into the room. Cousland took the opportunity and pulled free the noble's sword, lunging at the guards with no concern for his life. Neither of us cared if we lived or died. Not anymore.
They wanted a savage? I would give them one.
I glanced up; Graves was attacking the guards as ferociously as a she-bear protecting a cub. He would have made a good Dalish warrior, if he wasn't a shem. A guard caught him, struggling to hold the young teen down, and Graves rewarded him by biting down on the guard's arm and tearing into it like a rabid wolf. Below me, the cause of all our pain was growing cold, even as I kept stabbing at him with my dagger while Graves cut down any guard that got too close, the guard's blood still on his face.
No, I wouldn't give them a savage.
We would give them two.
"Ugh."
I sat up, wincing when I realized the arrows were still there. My head was pounding so badly I couldn't even remember what I had been dreaming about; it had felt like a memory, but all I had left of which one it may have been was a lingering feeling of dread and terror. I had a lot of memories full of dread and terror, so I didn't try to single out the memory.
A low whine came from behind me and I turned, my mood instantly brightening as Barkspawn shoved his huge head in my face, tail wagging as he licked at my face. I let loose a laugh of relief and wrapped my arms tightly around his large neck, clinging to the huge mabari as he licked at my face.
With Barkspawn's help, I managed to sit up to look around. We were in some sort of dark alley, the world outside the gap between the buildings alight with more lights than I had ever seen. A lone light burned at the end of the alley, where it hit a path that large monsters marched across. They seemed to be running away from something, but others seemed to be running in the direction the others were running away from. I shivered and backed up further into the depths of the alley.
Whatever magic had dragged me awake must have done the opposite for my companions: the three of them and Hawke's mabari were unconscious on the ground. With Barkspawn's help, I moved them to lean against the wall at the end of the small alley, away from the monsters that roared on by, fortunately having not noticed us. The back of the alley was dark, and the shadows hid us well.
My ears caught sound of an odd call of a sort I had never heard before. Barkspawn whined, sniffing the air, and I did too; all I got was a noseful of pollution and I wheezed.
Us Dalish had better senses than city elves, considering we've had years of Creators' aided evolving to adapt to our lifestyles while the city elves were surrounded by humans with no need for the skills us Dalish kept (not that having my nose taken up with this nasty air helped me any). My cat-like eyes were already adapting, and I focused my gaze on the two oddly dressed shems that stepped into the alley's entrance. The monsters paid them no mind.
"It leads here," the one wearing the large coat muttered before looking up. I crouched down, keeping my head to the ground as I gathered my strength in my legs beneath me in case I needed to lunge. The beeping stopped as the male shem shoved what he was holding into his coat and peered into the alley, "hello? Anybody down there?"
I hissed; keeping my head low and making cat noises had fooled shem before, thanks to my reflective eyes, and I was hoping the cat-like hiss would work this time, too. The man didn't seem convinced, taking a step further into the alley.
"We just want to help," he said, holding his hands up warily, "I'm gonna go ahead and guess you're not exactly from this planet?"
I scrambled back as he pulled an odd metallic looking thing out of his pocket and lit up the alley with an unnatural light. I bared my teeth and growled as the shadows that hid me were chased away, hoping maybe an act of Dalish savage would be enough to get him to run.
He froze when he saw me, a look of bewilderment flickering across his face. Surprise at seeing a Dalish in the midst of a city?
"Shit," he cursed and I growled again, struggling to keep myself up. The arrow in my chest was making it hard to breath, "Gwen, I think we might need Santa's helpers for this one."
"Go away," I spat, grabbing up my longsword. It shook in my grasp and I wiped at the blood trickling from my mouth to hide the shaking.
"Hey," the shem took another step forward, "you're probably really confused right now, but it looks like you need some help. We can help you, and we've got some other elves that might be able to explain things to you, okay? Can you stand?"
I tried to get to my feet, but they didn't want to stay there. Barkspawn was there for me to lean on as I dropped back down, and he let out a low whine as my expression drooped with exhaustion.
"Gwen, get the elves out here. Get Owen, too, we're gonna need a healer, considering we can't just take an elf to a hospital without questions being raised," the man said, glancing at the woman before taking a couple more hesitant steps into the alley towards me. For some reason he kept glancing over his shoulder, as if somebody would leap out and try to attack him from behind.
"Stop!" I growled out the words, though they came out as more of a whine as I struggled to put myself between him and my unconscious comrades who were fortunately still hidden in the shadows that remained, "please, no further!"
He held his hands up again in peace, but stopped as asked.
"You're bleeding out," he warned me, "and you don't really look like you're in too good of a shape."
"Ha!" I spat out a bitter laugh, ready to focus my tainted blood to my blade the second I needed to, "it's when I'm bleeding out that I am the most dangerous."
"Yes, well, you're going to be dangerously dead soon if you don't let me help you," the man said, confidence growing, taking another step, "what's your name?"
I hesitated, swaying where I crouched. I didn't answer him.
"Look, I'll even tell you mine," he offered, "I'm Captain Jack Harkness. Look, we'll fix you up and find somewhere to put you while we figure this out."
"What if I don't want to be put anywhere?"
"Sorry, buddy, but I'm afraid to say you're stuck here with us for the moment."
I hesitated a moment before opening my mouth, about to answer. Unfortunately, I hadn't noticed Fenris coming around behind me. I'm not sure exactly what it was that set him off, but the short-tempered elf was already leaping forward with a roar, lyrium brands flaring without even pausing for an explanation. The man jumped back with a startled curse, and in one swift movement he pulled something from his belt and aimed it at Fenris. The elf went down hard, lyrium brands going dark before he had even hit the ground.
Barkspawn growled and I forced myself to my feet; my blood trickled up my arms and down onto my blade even as my head seemed full of clouds from the blood I've already lost. I lunged forward, but my exhaustion and blood loss made me sloppy. The man easily dodged my blade and aimed his weapon at me.
I stammered out a plea to Falon'din, asking him to guide me into death.
The sound of Barkspawn's barks and snarls cutting off as the man pointed the weapon at the mabari lunging for him was the last thing I knew before I was forced to give in to the darkness.
-Marian-
I came awake with a groan and a curse.
"Champion!" a familiar Antivan accent danced through my ears, and when I opened my eyes at a sudden weight on my shoulders, I found that I was face to face with the ex-Crow.
Zevran lacked his usual carefree smirk, the sight of his usually cheerful face cracked through with panic and worry so unfamiliar an expression on his face it left a large feeling of wrongness within me. It was enough to snap me into focus and out of the last few grasping hands of unconsciousness.
"Well, we're not dead, I see," I smirked, letting the elf help me to my feet. He didn't even stare at my butt as I bent over to grab my staff off the ground. How considerate. And worrying. He'd never given up the opportunity before to stare at me in my robes of the pirate captain. Instead, he was pacing.
It was about this point that I realized neither Fenris, Assan, or Assan's mabari were in view. Instead, a trail of blood led out of the alley we seemed to be in. I strolled out of the alley and stepped onto a path of death black stone, hoping to see where the trail went.
Zevran grabbed me and yanked me back to safety just as a humongous shining beast let out a roar, barreling my way with a dreadful screech. I clutched at my now pounding heart as it passed, seemingly uncaring now that I was no longer on its precious black stone. Somebody screamed out a curse, but I didn't know where it came from. Bird was barking up a storm, the large mabari worriedly sniffing me over to see if I was alright once he'd calmed down.
"Careful," Zevran warned, "I saw one kill a squirrel earlier. It didn't even eat it. But they don't leave the black stone."
I shivered, watching the monsters roar past on round feet. I could see people inside them, through the see-through scales on the monsters' sides.
"Did.. Maker's breath, did they eat Fenris?"
Zevran frowned.
"Oh, and Assan," I added quickly, "I'm worried just as much about Assan."
Zevran's frown only seemed to deepen, "Assan was hurt, and they may have been unconscious like we were... But then why were we propped up against the back of the alley?"
The ex-Crow paused and crouched next to the blood trail, holding his chin in thought as he examined the trail of blood and where it cut off as if Assan had been whisked away by a giant bird.
Or eaten by one of those monsters.
"Assan was conscious," Zevran decided, swiping his finger through the blood and examining it as he stood up, "his blood turns darker when he coats his blades with his blood."
"He does what now?"
"Long story involving an immortal, sadistic mage and the Keep where the last of Ferelden's Grey Wardens had their last stand," Zevran said simply, wiping his finger off on his armor, "Assan thought it would be a good idea to drink an odd looking potion sitting on a table. He thought it was a healing potion. Instead of being healed at the time, he now permanently has the ability to make his blood coat his weapons and strengthen the Taint. As a Grey Warden, his Taint does not spread to others, but it's as good as poison."
"Wait, a non-mage doing blood magic?"
"Not blood magic, just- it's complicated!" the assassin snapped, "every minute we waste, he could be- could be-"
"We'll find them, Zevran," I promised. I cast a nervous glance around our bizarre surroundings, full of monsters that stuck to black paths and lights that burned without flames. I closed my eyes and focused, searching for the familiar feel of lyrium that followed Fenris wherever he went. I couldn't help but grin when I caught it, "I've caught their trail. We just need to get across the black stone without the monsters catching us."
The ex-Crow scanned the road warily, "will your magic work on the monsters?"
"Do you see any Templars?"
"No."
I took a deep breath, "then we'll just have to try. I can sense Fenris' lyrium. If we follow it quickly enough, we should be able to follow it to wherever they are."
"Well, let's raise a little hell, then, mage."
I grinned and pulled my mana forth, my hands bursting into flame.
"My dear Zevran, you are speaking my language."
